JNU may start sports quota in admissions

Unlike other institutions, Jawaharlal Nehru University does not give any weightage to a student’s performance in sports while granting admission .

For the first time, Jawaharlal Nehru University is likely to introduce sports quota in admission to its various programmes.

The JNU administration has said that it is working on a proposal to introduce a sports quota for admissions. (HT File Photo)

Currently, the university does not give any weightage to a student’s performance in sports while granting admission unlike other institutions including Delhi University.

In a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed between the Human Resource Development (HRD) ministry and the university, the administration has stated that it is working on a proposal to introduce a so-called sports quota. Hindustan Times has seen a copy of the MoU.

The university has also mentioned that it is likely to introduce academic programmes in physical education and sports, sports management, and drugs and doping in sports.

Apart from JNU, all the other central universities have also signed MoUs that will function as an action plan for this and the upcoming academic year (2018-19 and 2019-20), listing all they hope to achieve in the two years.

“They have informed us about introducing sports quota in admission and starting new courses too but a timeline has not been submitted yet,” said a senior HRD official.

Currently, there is no provision of sports quota for admission in JNU . The admission to various programmes is carried out through an entrance exam.

An official of the university familiar with the matter said the “university has been taking several initiatives to encourage sports and sportspersons and this is the reason why such a decision has been taken”.

The HRD ministry had made signing of an MoU between itself, the universities, and the University Grants Commission mandatory.

These have to provide details of the vision, mission and objectives of the institute, student teacher ratio, fees, and research output.

Colleges under Delhi University reserve 5% of their seats for students who excel in sports and extra-curricular activities. They conduct trials to assess the performance of students applying under this quota.

“The move will open more opportunities for students pursuing sports as most of them cannot pay much attention to their studies in under graduate programmes. It will help them pursue higher education with some relaxation. Also, Universities should promote sports at their level. This year, there of our students have won medals for India in the Asian Games,” said SC Dubey, Chairperson DU Sports council.